Am I the only one thinking we're probably looking at a NIT bid? Bad teams do not go to the NIT. I know we've had better years, but there are over 200 other teams out there that would love to go to post season of any kind but will stay home.
Iāve seen some pretty bad teams in the NIT Over40.
But I will say we go to the NIT Iāll take back my labeling of us as bad and move forward with average.
Am I the only one thinking we're probably looking at a NIT bid? Bad teams do not go to the NIT. I know we've had better years, but there are over 200 other teams out there that would love to go to post season of any kind but will stay home.
This is right, but there are teams in the past that have turned down the NIT bid because it was below expectations. Really, who cares about the NIT, except the teams playing in it? And then possibly not even then. Who can give me the NIT champ from last year (WITHOUT looking it up:rolleyes: )?
I know, I know, beggars canāt be choosersā¦
in person. (I had planned on meeting many of you this weekend, but the party got changed). FWIW, these are my observations:
Impressed with Curtisā hustle and overall play. I wish he didnāt double down leaving that Dorkman (spelled more descriptively) wide open. Iām assuming he had to because the ācentersā couldnāt stop their center. Took too many 3ās, but you canāt fault his effort.
Is narcolepsy contagious? As much as Curt hustled, Nance looked awful. Didnāt hustle (their first basket was embarassingly easy) didnāt rebound, he did foul really well, thoughā¦DA looked āslowā also.
Guards looked terrible. I know many of you extol Goldwire, but the only games Iāve seen, heās looked exactly like thisā¦poor shot selection (rushed), bad decisions. He did hustle, and I know he had the free throw run, but he doesnāt seem to really be able to shoot (Iām going to take flak for that, but Iāve seen him now about 4 games and he hasnāt played well in any of them). Alexander didnāt play well, nor Mitchā¦
Small sample size, obviously, and he canāt shoot, but Jamison played better than Alexander, defensively especially.
Either Xavierās big men were extraordinarily good, or we really stink defensively in the paint. You guys need to tell me. Xavier looked well coached, in sync. We only played well in spurts, and there werenāt enough of them.
The refs - I saw some bad calls, but I saw a couple of fouls (by Dumptruck especially) that didnāt get called on us, a couple of calls against them that were suspect (their fansā booing was justified), and I really donāt know how Lutz didnāt get Tād up when he came on the court. How did he get by with that? Does he do that often? Iāve seen him animated, but he lost it there. It was obvious Curt fouled the guy. There must have been something he felt the refs missed right before then, but I donāt know what it was.
X looked like the better team, plain and simple. We play them in the A-10 tourney, we lose.
PCon, good to meet you at Picassoās before the game. Over40, I looked for you but didnāt see you there. Wished I could have met more of youā¦maybe next year.
GO NINERS!
[QUOTE=Tenniner;148910]
ā¦Over40, I looked for you but didnāt see you there.
[/QUOTE]
Tenniner, I ran out of time and did not make it to Picassos. Sorry.
i dont want to be too redundant, but here is what i observed.
Poor shooting and shot selection, especially from leemire. If he would just take good shots, he would probably shoot 60% but instead, he gets into a funk to where he just starts throwing up everything.
Curtis Withers needs the ball. It cant get any simplier than that. Even if he doesnt shoot, he usually draws the defense and can kick it out for an open shot (goldwire, DA, bennett)
Mitch does absolutely nothing. Bennett at least gives us a threat to do something, so start him
Officiating was horrible, Nance played all of what? 8 minutes and had 5 fouls. And while i am on this subject, Courtney Williams may be the worst player on the team. He does nothing, he is horrible, and his shirt is WAY TOO BIG!!!
Xavier was the better team and Charlotte didnt play like they could have. However, the season is not over and i think this type of game will get us better prepared for the rest of the season because Xavier was big and bullied us around. I still believe 20 wins is an achievable goal and their would be nothing better than to beat GW next weekend.
P.S. i hope they show the video before every gameā¦ it was awesome.
Some of these may be redundant, but it needs to be said so we can really show the obvious things that are going consistantly wrong with this team.
Offense is inconsistant, and has no flow at times. As Iāve stated in post in the past, Mitch is not a true point guard and ball handler. The college game is controlled by guard play, and we will continue to have this problem with him at the point. We must either live with this, have him improve a great deal over the coming weeks, or start giving another point guard more time. Itās kind of like taking a running back, and trying to groom him into the quarterback position for a D1 football team.
Defense is still very bad. It is to the point that I am just coming to grips with the fact that under the current coaching staff (as it exist now), we will NEVER be good on this end of the court. We need to either make a change within the coaching staff (hire an assistant that is a defensive expert), or send a current member of the coaching staff to work with defensive specialists to gain the training we so sorely need.
Free throw shooting is very bad. See #2, and apply it to this area.
Scoreboard is terrific (had to throw in something positive). The highlights of 49er basketball history was fantastic. The fans need to start chanting NINER PRIDEā¦NINER PRIDE at the end of the highlights when the 49er PRIDE graphic comes up.
I believe this game against Xavier really showed how much we missed Drayton and his offense. It also showed that Courtney Williams really needs to hit the weight room hard this off season. Improving numbers 1 through 3 could easily mean the difference in at least 5 wins the rest of this season. I am not the type to just complain without at least trying to provide a solution, so for each point I have tried to do so (if not for this season, for the future).
GO NINERS!!!
Considering how Xavier had played in its last 2 or 3 games, I was kind of surprised how well they kept Charlotte off of the offensive glass. In our prior game against EKU, the Colonels were getting plenty of extra shots (along with plenty of 3s as well). X was lucky that they didnāt have any big men to complement their hot shooter (Matt Witt).
The first 4 minutes of the game almost lulled Charlotte into a false sense of security - few teams are going to beat Xavier simply by getting into a shooting contest. I admit I was surprised to see Withers taking as many outside shots as he did, but Xavier did adjust to that and played as consistent as they have all year.
I could easily see you guys beating SJU and losing to GW, or maybe even the other way around. The Hawks are tough to beat in the Fieldhouse, but theyāre a rollercoaster team and you never know which Hawks team will show up this year. GW is the most explosive team in the conference as far as raw talent goes, but theyāre not always as disciplined fundamentally as youād like to see.
I had a fun time visiting Halton and the UNCC campus Saturday - good luck the rest of the way and see you guys in Cincy come March.
[QUOTE=Xband01;148964]Considering how Xavier had played in its last 2 or 3 games, I was kind of surprised how well they kept Charlotte off of the offensive glass. In our prior game against EKU, the Colonels were getting plenty of extra shots (along with plenty of 3s as well). X was lucky that they didnāt have any big men to complement their hot shooter (Matt Witt).
The first 4 minutes of the game almost lulled Charlotte into a false sense of security - few teams are going to beat Xavier simply by getting into a shooting contest. I admit I was surprised to see Withers taking as many outside shots as he did, but Xavier did adjust to that and played as consistent as they have all year.
I could easily see you guys beating SJU and losing to GW, or maybe even the other way around. The Hawks are tough to beat in the Fieldhouse, but theyāre a rollercoaster team and you never know which Hawks team will show up this year. GW is the most explosive team in the conference as far as raw talent goes, but theyāre not always as disciplined fundamentally as youād like to see.
I had a fun time visiting Halton and the UNCC campus Saturday - good luck the rest of the way and see you guys in Cincy come March.[/QUOTE]
Xavier had a lot of fans at the game, did you all travel or are there a few transplants in this area?
Little bit of both. There were a number of fans who traveled from Cincinnati, and Xavier also had an alumni gathering with the Charlotte chapter (which drew alumni from the Carolinas and Atlanta).
a public service to the fans of Xavierā¦for us 49ers fan, following our basketball team is like living the movie āGroundhog Dayā.
The same thing over & over & over & over ā¦ we live & die with the 3 point shot and we play lots of mediocre defense.
take away the perimeter offense & we canāt win.
Iām actually optomistic about the GW matchup. A team that is undisciplined is the type that we can take apart. A disciplined team usually gives us problems because our guys become impatient. Look for a very high scoring game.
Iām just worried about the St Joes game. They could be a tough matchup.
Nance never seemed prepared to me. Pregame he was lacidaisical and at the end of pregame when the guys huddle around to get hype, Nance wasnāt even in the huddle. Just seemed like his mind was elsewhere all night long.
[QUOTE=Over40NINER;148897]Am I the only one thinking weāre probably looking at a NIT bid? Bad teams do not go to the NIT. I know weāve had better years, but there are over 200 other teams out there that would love to go to post season of any kind but will stay home.[/QUOTE]
Well said!
I need to update my websters dictionary b/c apparently the definition of ābadā and āhorribleā have changedā¦
[QUOTE=EJNiner;149165]Well said!
I need to update my websters dictionary b/c apparently the definition of ābadā and āhorribleā have changedā¦[/QUOTE]
The first half tonight = ābadā, āhorribleā
[QUOTE=NinerAdvocate;149168]The first half tonight = āworstā, āmost horribleā[/QUOTE]
fixed.
Wow, that was just downright ugly.